Coach Batista set to move to Shanghai

Former Argentina coach Sergio Batista is expected to sign with Shanghai Shenhua in yet another high-profile recruitment for a Chinese Super League team.

The club said on its website it has scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to introduce its new coach. No other details were given. Batista has been in China since Friday and met on Monday with Shenhua’s star signing, former Chelsea player Nicolas Anelka, who has been leading a five-man coaching lineup since the departure of Jean Tigana of France last month. The 49-year-old Batista helped Argentina win the 1986 World Cup as a player and coached the Argentine Olympic squad to the gold medal in Beijing. Chinese teams have recently emerged from years of poor management and match-fixing scandals to spend big on foreign coaches and players, a reflection of China’s growing economic might and thirst for global recognition. Shanghai has also been linked with a move for Anelka’s former Chelsea teammate Didier Drogba.